Wednesday, July 28th

 

Patrick spent this morning going to the US Consulate here in Guangzhou with one of our guides, Bob.  Since it was decided after we received travel approval that we were a Hague family there were some additional documents that needed to be signed to complete the adoption of Elizabeth.  Thank goodness Patrick graciously went because I was really nervous about having to go as it is a 30-40 minute cab ride with crazy Chinese driving and I get carsick real easy.  Patrick said the driving was just unbelievable and he was scared sh--less most of the time.  But after a 2 hour visit to the consulate everything regarding our case is now completed and we will have the big swearing in ceremony tomorrow and then be free to leave for the US.

 

Elizabeth and I stayed back this morning.  She was up a couple of times during the nite, but no return of the fever again.  Once when she woke up it was just because her diaper was soaking wet and once changed she went back to bed and slept until 7:20 am.  That is a record, the latest morning yet!   Most every other morning it has been between 4-5 am.  That is not going to cut it at home but we were going to wait until we were home to try and get her on a more normal schedule.  Who knows maybe the 7:20 wake up call today could be the start of something new?????  Once she was awake we got dressed and ventured down to the breakfast buffet just her and I.  I was a little worried doing the whole breakfast thing by myself but we did great.  I put her in the baby bjorn and then set our table up with the highchair, bib, her feeding spoon and napkins and then took her down the buffet line with me and got food for myself and her.  She ate some congee in the restaurant and I had some toast and bacon.  We headed back up to the room and then put her in the stroller and went walking.  We stayed out and about for around one hour.  She was the hit of the walk this morning.  One of the shop keepers gave her a chinese flag and she was waving it and clapping her hands.  Usually she falls asleep in the stroller but not today, she was having a grand old time!  In fact, she figured out how to take the actual flag off the stick and is now just waving the stick, no flag around and hitting everything in her path with the flag stick.  Cheap entertainment, I doubt I will be so lucky for her to play with something easy like that for the plane ride home!!

 

Patrick came back around 11 am and then at noon the entire travel group met at the White Swan Hotel-which is about a 5 minute walk from our hotel-to do the infamous "red couch" photos.  This is kind of a tradition with adoptive families for the babies in the group to line up on one of the red couches and have their pictures made in their traditional Chinese wear.  The babies looked adorable and the White Swan is beautiful where we were making pictures.  I have heard their rooms are quite small and the price is alot more than our suite at the Victory.  In fact, our entire travel group this time is staying at the Victory.  I like the space the Victory offers.  Our room smells a little damp and musty but overall it is not bad.  However, it does not compare to the mack daddy suite we had at the Dolton Hotel in Changsha, now that was a sweet room.  Absolutely huge, separate living area, separate office area, small foyer coming in to the room, small foyer going into the bathroom and a HUGE bedroom with a sitting area in it.  I swear that room in Changsha was as big as our master bedroom, living and dining room combination at home.  And to think we were questioning spending the money on a suite versus a regular room??!?!?!?

 

We are headed off to our last group dinner tonite.  After the swearing in ceremony tomorrow afternoon Patrick and I are headed off to Hong Kong for the nite and will fly out at 10:30 Friday morning for Newark.  3 other families are also leaving tomorrow headed for their respective homes.  I am quite sad to be leaving and also must tackle the dreaded packing.  I am looking forward to going home but I also know when we leave China on Friday morning that our daughter is leaving a piece of her heritage behind.  That is not fair to a child to leave the only thing you have ever known, but we will make the transition as smooth as possible and she will thrive in our environment in Florida as well as she has thrived here.  I never expected to enjoy myself as much as I have and would not have traded this experience for the world.  At the beginning of the trip I said to Patrick that I didn't know if I had it in me to come back to China to show Elizabeth where she came from, but I have changed my mind completely.  Heritage tours are quite popular for adoptive families where you come back to China 5-7 years after your adoption to show your child where they came from and to experience the real Chinese culture.  I saw families doing these tours in Changsha, and in fact XiXi, our guide also does Heritage tours-and thought to myself "I am sorry but I don't think we will be coming back and doing this anytime soon."  I think I might have to eat those words. China has been absolutely fascinating and while uncomfortable to step outside the box sometimes, it was definitely worth it.  Knock on wood, I did not encounter any squatty potties (but the trip is not over yet) and everything else I can just chalk up to life experience. 

 

After our White swan red couch photos we walked down to the one italian restaurant on the island and had bruschetta and pizza for lunch-it was divine. As we were walking back we got caught in a rain storm and guess who was laughing and babbling to herself- yep Miss Elizabeth.  She was having the time of her life.  A nice young Chinese girl started walking next to us and she spoke english and put her umbrella over Elizabeth so she wouldn't get wetter.  It was just the nicest gesture.  She asked if we had adopted Elizabeth and when we said yes, she said "that is a very lucky baby."  She walked all the way back to the front door of the hotel holding the umbrella over our girl.  It was just sooooo nice that honestly we were left speechless.  This young girl who did not know us from Adam, takes time out of her day to try and keep our child dry and gets soaking wet in the meantime, and also tells us how lucky our baby is to have us as parents. 

 

Well, we will probably have one more post in the morning before we have to pack up the computer and cables, etc for the trip to Hong Kong.  I hope you have enjoyed our travel logs as much as we have had doing them.  We will continue to update once we get home and post photos so you can watch our little miracle grow. 

 

She is a great baby.  Very happy, very active, and knows how to make her daddy just melt.  They speak "chinese" to each other and it is hilarious.  She loves to hold her pointer finger up at him and babble loudly as if to say "listen here mister, I am in charge and you will do what I tell you to do."  Then she gets the biggest grin on her face and laughs hysterically.  What a cutie!!  She really only cries if she is hungry or tired, smiles at all the people on the street but must be able to see her mom from wherever she is.  Not the greatest sleeper, but oh well-we waited 4+ years for her and had plenty of time to sleep.  She loves the stroller and LOVES being outside and just walking around.  She does not seem to like anything sweet at this point-we have tried bananas, birthday cake and syrup and she turns her nose up at all of them.  Good thing probably because Patrick and I obviously have not said no enough to sweets and junk food! Overall she is a perfect fit for our family.

 

Well stay tuned for the last post tomorrow morning from Guangzhou, China

 

Until next time...............................